Royal Ballet: The Two Pigeons, Monotones I & II, November 2015 & Rhapsody January 2016

[alison]

I feel as though I've just seen Rhapsody for the first time.  Beautifully light, fast, and with a mystery to it that I've been totally unaware of in the past.  So much more satisfying than when it's danced just as a bravura piece.

[billboyd]

Rhapsody & The Two Pigeons - Both terrific! ***** Five stars!

[Jamesrhblack]

A truly lovely afternoon. I understand exactly what Alison means in Post 304. I can appreciate that there is a more obviously virtuosic approach but nothing was shirked and everything seemed beautifully judged. I thought Francesca Hayward was really starry in this with dazzling precision aligned to elegance and musicality and James Hay!s speed and attack were pretty dazzling too. They also worked beautifully together in the Pas de Deux, that wonderfully tender moment within the surrounding brilliance.

 

I'd not seen The Two Pigeons for many years. Unlike some on here, I don't have a problem with the Gyosy scenes. To me, they seem very much part of a late 19th century sensibility towards the excitement but also the danger of the non conventional life style summed up by Carmen's "La liberté." I don't think that the presentation of the aristocrats has worn well but otherwise almost all was joy. I know she is loved by many but I found Yuhui Choe a little too unremittingly sweet and under projected but Itziar Mendizabal brought fantastic attack and glamour (if not invariably stretched feet) to The Gypsy Girl.

 

Alexander Campbell brings such truth and honesty to his performance that I was reminded in presentation if not in look of David Wall. The dancing and acting elements are so beautifully integrated with no seeming gear change and he dealt with the challenges of partnering the rather taller Mendizabal with considerable aplomb, including a couple of thrilling, seemingly unprepared one arm lifts. Particularly touching in the final Pas de Deux was the reaching through The Young Girl's arm and up to his forehead as if in self reproach and acknowledgement of folly: you really felt he was earning forgiveness. These things are very personal and I found myself wishing afterwards that Marquez had still been there to partner him (they were lovely together in Don Q and Fille) which seems unfair to Choe. It's just that she doesn't reach me as a performer (maybe I was too far away in the Balconh Stalls) for all her technical accomplishment. I did wonder on later reflection if a partnership with Francesca Hayward might be interesting (obviously, these things are limited by Mr Campbell's relatively compact stature) but I would think her flair and musicality a good match for him.

 

Quibbles apart, I found it a very touching performance and, as anticipated, the musical and choreographic pleasure, quite apart from the dancing quality, was very satisfying (the Messager isn't great music but it works very well in dance terms in this context).

[Sim]

I absolutely loved both performances today.  I was deeply impressed with Hay and Hayward in Rhapsody last time around, and today just reaffirmed why.  I so agree with Alison's point about this being a more profound rendering than some of the 'bravura' interpretations.  The pdd between the two of them was very touching, and they both complement each other so well.  A word also for the six men and six women supporting their central performance.....excellent!!  It will be very interesting to compare this with McRae and Osipova on Wednesday.

 

Two Pigeons was utterly, utterly delightful.  I think that Yuhui and Alexander are a really good couple;  I have always enjoyed their performances together.  She IS very sweet, but against his dark danger it is a contrast that works for me.  They both danced beautifully and everything was projected up into the amphi.  The final 'forgiveness' pdd put forth the meaning of that word through dance and emotion.  A total joy even though it reduced me to a blubbering wreck with Alice Cooper eyes as I left the House!  This is the second time I've seen them in this piece, and I cannot wait for the third.  

 

Itziar Mendizabal was a fiery, sexy Gypsy Girl who convinced me that many men would, if only temporarily, pursue what she had to offer over loyalty and love.  With Marcelino Sambe as a wonderfully bravura Gypsy Boy who knocked my socks off with his jumps and turns, it was a most enjoyable, pleasurable afternoon.  I didn't even mind missing out on a rare sunny day because this afternoon the sun was shining inside the ROH.

[Jan McNulty]

I'd never seen Rhapsody before but I thought it was absolutely beautiful.  I thought the whole cast danced the piece really well.  Francesca Hayward is very special indeed.  I had a lump in my throat after the duet - she and James Hay were wonderful together.  I think that duet shows that even in an abstract work there is emotion, another glorious masterpiece from Sir Frederick Ashton.

 

Well in a couple of weeks and with many Nutcracker in between both Yuhui Choe and Alexander Campbell have deepened their interpretations in Two Pigeons.  Jamesrhblack has articulated so much more eloquently than I could what I felt about Alex' performance this afternoon.  I thought Yuhui was sublime too - very believable indeed.  I found the reconciliation duet incredibly moving.  Oh,  OK I was a blubbering wreck from the moment he was ejected from the gypsy camp.  Of course the ballet is not just about 2 dancers and I thought the whole company put their hearts and souls into it this afternoon.

 

I agree with Bill, it was a 5* afternoon.

 

It was lovely too meeting up with so many Forum members and lurkers.  It was especially nice to meet Petunia and Timmie for the first time.  I do hope Petunia is going to write about her ballet extravaganza for us.

[Jamesrhblack]

Thanks Janet and sorry I didn't find you at the interval. I was with friends who didn't wash to venture down to the Floral Hall and it would have been discourteous to abandon them in the Amohitheatre bar....

[Duck]

It was in 2011 that I moved to London and as a result, I started to go to more than one performance for some ballets. So that year, I saw two different casts of Rhapsody and however unfortunately didn’t take much away from the ballet. That effect was repeated in 2014 – until I saw Francesca Hayward and James Hay in their debuts that year. All of a sudden, the ballet changed for me from an accumulation of challenging jumps and steps that would allow the dancers to show their skills to a romantic story about two young people who start as individuals and come together in an exuberant setting, and where the steps and jumps are thus part of the story, a means to an end rather than the end itself. What an eye opener. So I went to today’s matinee with a mix of high hopes and some trepidation that my memory would be playing tricks. I needn’t have worried. It was all there, and even matured in a good way. The soloist couples danced with visible joy and added to the pleasure. Did my eyes get watery based on the cold that I’ve been carrying with me for the last few days, or was it the performance? While the cold may have affected the nose, I am afraid the eyes were definitely down to the performance. I am not too keen on Two Pigeons however am debating with myself whether I should buy a ticket for the matinee on 30^th January just to see Hayward and Hay in Rhapsody again.

Edited January 16, 2016 by Duck

[Vanartus]

Just bought a matinee ticket in amphi for Rhapsody. - am looking forward to appx 30 minutes of sheer bliss...

[zxDaveM]

Rhapsody rehearsal photos from 2 casts (Francesca Hayward/James Hay and Natalia Osipova/Steven McRae). There wasn't a photo call for the different casts for the second part of the run for The Two Pigeons - just Rhapsody.


Francesca Hayward, James Hay
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr


Steven McRae, Natalia Osipova
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr
 

Artists of the company
© Dave Morgan. Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr

See more...
Set from DanceTabs: RB - Rhapsody
Courtesy of DanceTabs / Flickr
By kind permission of the Royal Opera House

[jmhopton]

Thanks for this Dave. More fab. photos as as always. I particularly like the first photo with Francesca and James as I feel it captured the style and elegance they portrayed most movingly this afternoon.

Had a really great afternoon enjoying 2 very different but equally wonderful examples of the genius that is Frederick Ashton. As the programme says, with his ballets there is nowhere to hide. As a dancer you are constantly exposed but when you have dancers of this calibre giving their all they have nothing to fear and as an audience you can only marvel at the talent and dedication that can result in such wonderful, memorable performances. I only hope all these positive reviews result in more people attending. There seemed to be quite a few empty seats in the amphi and I know the ROH has emailed out to people on their mailing lists who haven't booked offering cheaper seats in the stalls and amphi. as my husband got one.

It was great meeting Janet and others from the forum but come on everyone else and see these wonderful performances while you can. You won't regret it! I'd hate to think the powers-that-be may not be in a hurry to schedule more Ashton because it's not seen as commercially viable. it will be interesting to compare ticket sales with the BRB double bill of The Dream and A Month in the Country. Will 2 story ballets sell better than a mixed story and abstract bill? In a way it would be a shame if this was so as I thought Rhapsody was wonderful though normally I might prefer 2 story ballets.

[loveclassics]

https://uk-offers.timeout.com/deals/entertainment-rhapsody-the-two-pigeons-january-2016

 

Time Out offer for tickets. .

Thank you so much for posting this - just bought the last stalls seat for the 28th and that's really brightened up my January!

[Jan McNulty]

https://uk-offers.timeout.com/deals/entertainment-rhapsody-the-two-pigeons-january-2016

 

Time Out offer for tickets. .

 

 

And my laptop seems to have taken matters into its own hands and booked for the matinee on 30th!!!  Thanks Jane...

[Vanartus]

BTW I'm pleased the old sets and costumes are back, and the men's costumes have been simplified which is good as Chappell did go overboard on the gold. Well it was the 80's!

[Two Pigeons]

They were/are still a vast improvement on the redesign imposed in the 90s.

[alison]

And my laptop seems to have taken matters into its own hands and booked for the matinee on 30th!!!  Thanks Jane...

 

Janet, you really need to give that laptop of yours a severe talking-to.  First flights to Bratislava, and now this? 

[alison]

BTW I'm pleased the old sets and costumes are back, and the men's costumes have been simplified which is good as Chappell did go overboard on the gold. Well it was the 80's!

 

Vanartus, were the original sets always that ... sparse?  I never saw the original production, but didn't remember the sets being like that from the photos.

 

Janet, I totally agree with you about Francesca Hayward: she pretty much only had to make her first entrance and I was thinking "Promote that girl to Principal already!"  (Yes, I know, she hasn't done the classics yet, but still ...)  If anyone still doubted that she was star material, I think yesterday would have dispelled that.

 

And drat, I forgot Petunia was coming   Janet, was that you in the stripey jumper?

[Jan McNulty]

Yes, I was wearing a striped jumper!  Sorry we missed each other again.

[Vanartus]

Have a Google re sets. I remember they were fairly simple portico/arches. I just remember the over elaborate gold hair pieces for the men - an OTT variant on the far more subtle one in Symphonic V.

[Timmie]

Rhapsody was a lovely lyrical revelation, I’d not seen this before and can imagine that it is very different with a bravura style. Do we know how Ashton intended it? I ask because it says it was created on Baryshnikov so maybe it is meant to be quite Bravura? I’ll be interested to hear how McRae and Osipova perform it, compared to Hay and Hayward, from those of you who will see both. The Pas de Deux was the best part of the afternoon for me with H&H working so well together.

 

Two Pigeons, totally charming, and I agree with what has been said above.

 

And of course, nice to put faces to names for some of my fellow inmates of the Ballet Forum .

 

 

 

 

[WoodlandGladeFairy]

I am looking forward to seeing Rhapsody/Two Pigeons in the cinema on the 26th Jan (day after my birthday, so a nice treat1), I last saw 'Rhapsody' back in 2014 with James Hay and Francesca Hayward and they were truly enchanting together combined with the stunning Rachmaninov music, a really magical performance, so I am curious to see how Natalia Osipova (who I am a bit lukewarm towards, she is not my favourite dancer) and Steven McRae interpret the ballet. Also I noticed the costumes have changed for this run, as when I saw it in 2014 it was much more simpler designs. 

 

I've never seen the 'Two Pigeons', so I am very excited about that and it stars two of my favourite dancers - Lauren Cuthbertson and Vadim Muntagirov, so it's nice to be going into a ballet relatively cold if that makes sense.

[Tony Newcombe]

Nice to read all the positive thoughts about Saturday matinee.

Interesting that there was not a Principal dancer to be seen!!

[alison]

I've often found that principal dancers aren't necessarily the best dancers to cast in Ashton ...

[Sim]

I've often found that principal dancers aren't necessarily the best dancers to cast in Ashton ...

With the recent exception of Roberta Marquez!

[bangorballetboy]

With the recent exception of Roberta Marquez!

And Laura Morera!

[FLOSS]

It is true that the lead male role in Rhapsody was created on Baryshnikov who at the time the ballet was made was probably, as far as technique was concerned, the finest male dancer in the world. I seem to recall that after the first performance some people wondered whether the piece was not too full of tours de force and nearly everyone wondered who was going to dance it when Baryshnikov was no longer around to do so.

 

It was not the first time that an Ashton ballet had raised the "who's going to dance  it ?" question. The same question lingered on the lips of those who were at the premiere of Fille and we know that the question was soon answered. Quite a few dancers proved able to dance Fille. They danced the choreography as set but they did not all have the same attack as Blair and Nerina  and Ashton must have been pleased with their accounts of his ballet as he had considerable control over who danced in his works, 

 

One of the things that everyone needs to appreciate is that while Baryshnikov was a great technician he did not dance with any great apparent forcefulness. He just performed the steps. His manner of dancing was far less emphatic than seems fashionable among technicians today. Hay may need a little more panache but he does not need to be as emphatic as McRae. When Polunin and McRae danced Rhapsody a couple of years ago I thought that Polunin gave by far the better account because his dancing was less emphatic and more polished .The " it was nothing" shrug at the end made sense with Polunin but no sense with McRae because you could see how hard he had been working. Ashton must always look easy however difficult the choreography is. The choreography must not be reduced to a box of tricks and the dancer to a leg machine.   

Sometimes McRae manages to make you too aware of his technique and how clever he is. Baryshnikov never did that. it is said that he was disappointed that Ashton concentrated so much on his technical skills and that he was hoping for something different from working with Ashton.

Edited January 18, 2016 by FLOSS

[FLOSS]

As far as the revivals of Marguerite and Armand are concerned perhaps Anthony Russell Roberts needs the money.He may even be regretting his  past diffidence about his uncle's works.  I imagine that he does not feel able to refuse anyone else the right to dance it having allowed Guillem to appear in it and there are quite a few dancers of a  certain age in search of a vehicle.

.

[billboyd]

Sergei Polunin and Steven McRae have different personas. I am more than happy with both.

 

And with James Hay.

Edited January 18, 2016 by billboyd

[Jan McNulty]

Sergei Polunin and Steven McRae have different personas. I am more than happy with both.

 

And with James Hay.

 

 

That's what makes seeing more than one cast so exciting.  I love seeing different interpretations but some are going to appeal to me more than others.  I'm not talking about Rhapsody because I saw it for the first time on Saturday afternoon, but in general.

[billboyd]

No two Hamlets are the same.

[Two Pigeons]

I was lucky enough to see Baryshnikov dance Rhapsody and he was astonishing. However, i also remember Anthony Dowell in the role and he was remarkable in an entirely different way. Never a virtuoso but someone who understood Ashton's choreography and whose elegance carried it.

 

There ate different ways to present the ballet and it doesn't have to be totally 'in your face'.

[capybara]

There ate different ways to present the ballet and it doesn't have to be totally 'in your face'.

 

 Agreed but I do think that the faces of the dancers in Rhapsody need to appear relaxed. Too often (and understandably) the male lead looks strained and makes me feel tense watching him.

[Two Pigeons]

Obvious I meant 'are', not 'ate'. Sorry.

[FLOSS]

I am glad that someone else mentioned Dowell's performance in Rhapsody which made it look like an Ashton ballet in a way which it did not quite with Baryshnikov. Remember the choreography was made on Baryshnikov so it played to his strengths and his strengths were not obviously Dowell's strengths, and it is possible that Ashton may have made adjustments for him as he did for Wall when he danced Oberon, but with Dowell the ballet changed from Ashton with a foreign accent to idiomatic Ashton.

 

However accurately you record steps in notation if you can not persuade the dancers to adopt the choreographer's style then you will produce something which resembles the original work in name only. Style is a portmanteau word which includes the choreographer's modification of classroom steps, whether he uses the dancer's entire body or only part of it, speed and musicality 

 

In Ashton's works musicality generally means following the melody and crossing bar lines, in Balanchine it means observing bar lines; a flow of movement rather than the current Russian fashion of moving from one freeze frame pose to the next, and dancing at the tempo at which both he and the composer expected the music to be performed. There should be no slowing the music down so the dancers have time to point their feet. The dancers need to adopt and apply Ashton's modifications of classroom steps rather than imposing the classroom on his choreography. Markova said of Ashton's choreographic style it was essentially all Cecchetti below the waist and Duncan above it. It also helps if the dancers trust Ashton to have done the hard work for them by creating their characters in his choreography in his narrative works. Unlike MacMillan's works there is no need for the dancer to build a character with a backstory. Acting as if  you are in a MacMillan work can go a long way to undermine a performance rather than enhancing it.

 

Knowledge, understanding and the ability to reproduce different choreographic styles is central to the successful preservation and revival of older works, I am not convinced that a change in fashion as far as technique is concerned requires that every ballet in the repertory has to be danced in a one size fits all homogenised international style. Dancing a piece of choreography too slowly can destroy its effect and meaning, reducing it to incoherence and so can dancing which shows the effort you are putting into achieving an effect. Obvious effort for bravura effect reduces choreography to little more than acrobatics and for me that is not ballet it is circus. One of the most unfortunate effects of current fashion is that a large part of the audience only seem to recognise male dancing if it involves jumps and turning steps. They seem almost completely oblivious to terre a terre dancing and there is a lot of that in Ashton's works.

 

There  are two other factors which are relevant to keeping works in trim  and persuading an audience that a long neglected work deserves its time on the stage. One is casting decisions.The other  is design or rather redesign. It is tempting to think that a balet long out of the repertory could do with sprucing up to make it more acceptable to modern tastes. So far the redesigns of Ashton ballets Daphnis and Chloe, Les Rendezvous and Cranko's The Lady and the Fool  have been little short of disastrous. It must induce a wry smile that Rhapsody has now returned to the stage in designs that bear some resemblance to the original having gone through a bold, brash period followed by a mimsy pastel one, neither of which worked. 

 

Ballet design is difficult because most designers get little practice and most seem oblivious to the fact that it is what their designs look like in motion which really counts, so that colour, cut and materials are of as much importance as the static image which they have produced, The man who redesigned Daphnis and Chloe killed it in its tracks because he produced costumes which reduced and constricted the dancers' movements rather than amplifying them in the way the original designs had done while the man who redesigned Les Rendezvous made a nonsense of Ashton's floor plan and completely undermined the mood of the ballet by his costume designs. As for casting while  giving a dancer a shot at a role will not do too much damage if the ballet in question is one that is revived regularly it may be the kiss of death if it is a rarely performed one that has not been seen for twenty or so years. In the case of a rarely performed work it is better to cast according to suitability rather than seniority or status. If the" star" is unsuited to the role in question his or her followers will ascribe the failure to the choreographer not their favourite.

 

Bill is quite right it is better to see a couple of casts in a new work, or the revival of a piece which you don't know that has been out of the repertory for any length of time. That way you stand a chance of seeing a cast or part of a cast which convince you that the work in question has some merit. The trouble is that A.Ds usually take the easy option of casting stars.On Saturday, as those who were there will know, there was not a star in sight just some stars in the making. On the Dansomanie Forum there was a comment from someone who was there expressing surprise at how moved he was by the performance of Two Pigeons  which did not have a single principal in it. In this case O'Hare's decision to run in the "new work" before Christmas has paid off. On Saturday it certainly looked as if the company owned the ballet in a way it did not before Christmas.

Edited January 18, 2016 by FLOSS